Stocks rallied Monday after an encouraging report on existing-home sales and a pullback in the dollar.
At the halfway point, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 120 points, topping 10,400.
All 30 components were higher, led by Chevron, GE and Verizon.
The dollar retreated against other major currencies, hitting a six-week low against the yen, after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said the Fed should keep interest rates low for some time. He also said the Fed should continue buying mortgage backed securities and other assets longer than it currently plans.
Oil was up more than $2 a barrelto nearly $80 a barrel on the dollar's retreat and signs of demand from China. Gold hit a new recordabove $1,170 a troy ounce.
Existing-home sales shot up 10.1 percentin October to their highest level in 2 1/2 years and well above the 2.3 percent rise economists had expected. This came after a a 9.2-percent jump in September.
The "shocking" home-sales number isn't just a good sign for the housing sector — it's a good sign for banks, said Todd Schoenberger, managing director at LandColt Trading.
"Any myth that banks aren't lending money should quickly evaporate as it's obvious now that people are able to obtain a loan, with or without the helpful backing of the Government's tax credit," Schoenberger said.
But Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, cautioned that there may be more pain ahead for housing.
"We expect another strong number for November, then a sharp drop in sales immediately thereafter, followed by a gradual rebound in H1 next year," Shepherdson wrote in a note to clients. Home prices should continue to increase modestly, he said, "unless inventory jumps next spring, as we fear."
Microsoft and News Corp. moved one step closer to an exclusive search agreement, where News Corp.'s news sites, including the Wall Street Journal, would only be available on Microsoft's Bing — and removed from Google.
Ebay is back up and runningfollowing weekend disruptions.
A few earnings reports this morning:
Campbell Soup beat earnings expectations and raised its full-year outlook, helped by price increases and a drop in the cost of ingredients like grains and tomatoes.
Tyson Foods reported earnings of 28 cents a share excluding a large goodwill impairment charge.
The real earnings fireworks come after the closing bell, when Hewlett-Packard is the last Dow component to report.
Cadbury shares rose as Kraft Foods is reportedly mulling a higher bidas Hershey and Italy's Ferrero discuss a possible joint bid for Cadbury. Switzerland's Nestle is now also said to be in the mix.